I have been keeping an eye on all you guys. I am especially impressed with Prpl Patriot. The man astounds me, in that he is so sharp and passionate at his age. I always looked up to Marines, and desperately longed to be one - and that Patriot is a really perfect illustration of why I wanted to be one of the few.

Thank you Patriot. You're undoubtedly my hero. Please don't ever stop sharing your wisdom and perspective here! Those who are willing to hear, will hear your message and have no choice but to be moved by your life itself, and additionally the astute things you post here. F*** those people who say any single thing against you. They are the ones who will never hear, and waste screen space with their dumb*** babble. Don't waste your time or energy with them. They will NEVER know.

Spade, you're such a great man to see here because you represent to me, and this entire site, one of way too few young men who are always of a rare and honorable type. I'm just into my thirties, and I think I saw you were in your mid-twenties, and I know that our generation together with those about to graduate high school or college is stuffed to the seams with unprincipled, self absorbed, and downright disgraceful citizens. I commend you for being one tall tree amid a wasteland of weeds.

Lastly, Hen, I hope Patriot was moved as much as I was by what you had to say to him. You three should stick together on this site, giving each other thumbs and support. Put your backs together, guys, and plow through the idiots on here. I can't wait to see all of you with huge yellow numbers, and a follower list to rival all others. I know I'm already on your lists.

Not sure I see the connection between your without a doubt very good question, and the article itself or the subject overall on this particular page. No offense, just a little lost by the digression...

Uh... I didn't see anywhere in Patriot's comments where he said anything close to blaming governments. He simply said the word "prediction" was slapped onto the scientist guy by the mayor, some cops, and whoever else.

So, if pointing out the quotes of authorities is somehow blaming them for an earthquake, then I guess you're right - but judging by the numbers, or lack thereof, that you've received for "actually knowing and understanding the science" I'm leaning in the other direction.

I understand Iran: its past, its present regime and the divisions within the complex ideology and agendas within the country, and am quite familiar with Achmadenijad.

I quite simply just couldn't make much sense out of the sentence itself.  I am not suggesting that anybody is dumb, or without a valid point, I just found it was written in such a way that I could only recognize a few words, and couldn't find their context well enough to get what was being said.

It's likely my failure more than anyone else, so I'm not sure why some are upset about what I wrote.

Wow. Are you serious? That is absolutely insane, and I'm crossing my fingers they never get that stupid, money-grubbing, dictatorial piece of crap called a bill proposition passed in your state or anywhere else. I wonder... if I grew my own fruits and vegetables just for my own family's consumption, would the government make me pay all the costs I would've had if I bought the stuff at a grocery store where it had been shipped to from the opposite side of the country?

It's the same damn thing, and just as ridiculous.

Excellent point about the toilet thing. It's like those airating low flow faucet thingies: there is so much less water coming out per second, and with so much less pressure, it takes so much longer for the water to get hot, and for all hygiene practices like brushing teeth, shaving, making tea and lots more.

And as far as the one-square rule... if that is mandated by our fearless leader, then I am never going to shake anyone's hand again.

3 showers in 7 days?

I don't know what sort of life anyone else is living, but I like to be healthy. I eat good foods, and in good portions, and I almost always drink only water. Also, I spend an hour a day at the gym, or on a bicycle, or jogging. I am by no means or any stretch of the imagination alone in this type of life. Since not all of us are blessed with work-from-home jobs or can socially afford to be stinky and/or disheveled every other day.

I am not speaking for anyone else but myself when I say that I feel so much more confident and ready for anything life throws at me, once I've showered shaved, and put on a freshly washed set of clothes.

Once I step outside my house, I am happy to see my lush green lawn, and know that the kids are having a wonderful time after school playing in the backyard without scraping their knees on bare earth, or stepping on pebbles and hardened clumps of mud.

When I get home after a really long physically straining day at work, there is no way in hell I want to lay down on my couch or bed with that gross layer of dried sweat mixed with dust that most men who work outdoors - and not sitting on their butts in a lawn chair - always come home with. Not to mention, I would never have had kids if I hadn't been a water hogging bastard who washes themselves - since no woman wants to have sex with a dirty, stinky, grimy man. The only sweat that is desirable in lovemaking is the sweat created by it.

In reality, we would create an immeasurable amount of jobs, help companies who genuinely want to be environmentally considerate but not at the entire cost of their profits that are soon to be taxed out the whazoo, and keep the general populace from spreading disease or crinkled noses burned by the stench of uncleanliness, if we stopped trying to take away things from people or shaming them as criminals if they have the wrong product. Instead, we could start redirecting all that finger pointing uncivil disobedient tree hugging BS and the money that comes with it, to better filtration technology, smarter municipal sewer system planning, and replacing those 'damaging' things we have with environmentally friendly products that suck in comparison to their old versions.

BTW: Sallie, if the clean natural water is being destroyed... what exactly designates natural water from unnatural water? Clean or not, all water is naturally produced, and I know of no company that can build water. If any water other than natural water exists, it would have to be man-made. If a scientist were to somehow construct mysterious unnatural water then the universe would implode on itself ending all space and time as we know it because somehow somebody just created something from nothing.

Just a thought. I know I'm sounding like a sarcastic ass, and I apologize for that, just sort of stumped by the article and its implications in the near future...

Nancy, your behavior that day was that of someone young and protected, who couldn't possibly have been expected to behave in any other manner. I can only assume, that that Memorial Day event back in '68, and its solemnly mournful symbolism wasn't a dominating burden on your heart before then. I imagine that the young man who asked you to stand beside him there, didn't and doesn't feel apologies necessary, for you and your more pleasant collection of experience and outlook on life back then was surely a welcomed respite from the harsh realities of war and consequence.

On the other hand, my behavior - and all the subsequent choices afterward - when I gave up a fight that had yet to begin by shaking that Marine's hand and whispering, "I understand. Sorry for bothering you," actually was a thing deserving of regret. I had deeply immersed myself in the realities and requirements of military service and was fully aware of the fact that a Marine was 'one of the few' for a reason. My own delusions of winning honor for myself and my family, and my short sighted foolishness, failed to prepare me for what I ought to have known would be a powerful and virtually impossible struggle.

I was born with those hands, and had always destroyed any obstacle that stood in the way of my goals, yet I waved the white flag immediately and cowardly retreated from that office forever. You should let go of any regrets you may have from that day in '68, for your innocence was likely the trait which drew that boy to you. Hopefully, you can look at this post as an illustrative contrast of the difference between a fresh outlook that wasn't jaded by the stains of knowledge, and a perception overwhelmed with detail and desire that stayed willfully ignorant of reality.

You showed no disrespect because you didn't disrespect yourself, the boy, or those present by putting on an act to fool anyone about a ruthlessly harsh part of life you fortunately hadn't had to face . In contrast, i disrespected myself, my family, and the peerless men in the Marine Corps by stubbornly believing I should be marching in their midst. In reality, I couldn't see that I had put on a flimsy act to fool myself into facing a barrier I didn't even try to overcome.

I hope I haven't bored anyone into a coma (I'm sure I did), and I made a little bit of sense somewhere in there. Nancy, I also hope you continue to put a flower by that monument with pride, for them and all those like them, and place every flower from now on without apologies.

Nancy, thank you so much for this message of yours. It moved me, and brought up something in my heart that I always feel, but haven't really thought of in quite some time.

I am only 31, and though I love her, my mother lived through that time period as an ultra-liberal hippie. So, it was always a battle of words between us about our soldiers, our country's integrity, and so forth. I heard stories of how she felt back then, and the views that swirled around in her twisted and misguided mind. I don't have a clue how or why I felt completely opposite from her, even as a young child - but I somehow had this kernel of patriotism in my heart from birth.

All I ever wanted to be throughout my childhood and teens, was to serve my country, and offer up myself as a tribute to those who kept my country free those hundreds of years before me. It was a serious goal, and not just the typical vague daydreams of children who could care less about their future path. As I grew, I spent as much time as I could learning about American history, the concepts that grew a mighty garden of liberty, and the conflicts we engaged in for the sake of ensuring our country's ideals would carry on.

I went through high school already set in my mind about what I would do with my life. I built my body into a physical powerhouse, so Basic Training would be a time for me to learn as much as possible and not get distracted with being out of shape. Growing up in Indiana, I was exposed to rifles as a kid at camp, and I had a natural talent for freakishly good marksmanship. I was carving in stone my desire to be a Sniper for the U.S.M.C. and made preparing for that life consumed all I did with my spare time. I wanted honor, for myself to give as a gift to my country, and strong integrity to make up for the disgraces my mother did in the ignorance of youth - and continues to believe in to this day.

Finally, when I was 18 - in 1994 - I was practically bursting with excitement and hope as I marched myself down to the Marine Corps Recruiting Office. I'm sure the Marines in there saw my commitment and dedication from the incredibly powerful condition I was in, and the steely gleam of my Forefathers shining through my eyes. I sat down, explained my intentions, recounted how I had waited for that single moment all my life, and promised to become One of the Few with all of my heart, mind, and soul because I knew the cost our country must bear every day to keep our Statue's torch burning strong and bright.

The Recruiter looked at me, looked over to his fellow Marine, and then turned back to me with an ocean in his eyes, and one tear falling slowly down his cheek - like in the movies. He took a long time to speak, and i felt as though time had stopped while the butterflies in my stomach rioted. When it started again, he pretended there was no thin trail down his cheek reflecting the sunlight that filtered in the window. He cleared his throat, swallowed hard, and told me softly, "I'm so sorry son, but I unfortunately do not have the authority to rewrite the regs, and the regs say you need five fingers to pull the trigger..."

Outside, my expression didn't waver, but inside, a part of me died.

Since then, my life eventually found a consolation path. I sit here now typing this to you while on a two day break from my 80 hour work week. I am a history teacher, physical restraint instructor, and conditioning coach at a juvenile wilderness boot camp. This is a place for convicted teens who've had the blessing of someone who fought against the court system's regs to give them a better chance at finding their true path, instead of simply being shipped off to lockdown facilities. I love my job, and I love every kid I work with, and best of all I get to go to my small cottage on the premises and look myself in the mirror without hesitation.

I look at myself and see someone who is serving his country, sort of, and someone who can feel a little pride from what I do each day. I still see that steely gleam, and I still love what America was built upon. Those who suit up with the stars and stripes to keep the flag of our country's heart from being soiled from tyranny abroad and apathy at home, also have my love and prayers and deep reverence. Though I am weighed down with woe for the direction and destination our nation's 'leaders' are dragging us toward, I still cling to the certainty that the red, white, and blue can still be restored to pristine and vibrant color.

Every Memorial Day and Veterans' Day, I go to several cemeteries in our city to place flags beside the grave stones of as many fallen soldiers of freedom I can find. I clutch my supply of flags with my right hand, placing them one by one with my left. I look from one hand of three fingers and a thumb, to the other of the same appearance, and will forever carry the shame of falling short, of not being strong enough, and of surrendering everything I dreamed of after meeting a single challenge.
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um... what? I honestly couldn't make much of a coherent sentence out of that. i get a few words here and there, and can guess on a few more, but I think the absence of spell check really sucks - because there might be a very legitimate point there, but I can't be sure.